As I mentioned in my last blog about preaching the gospel. I made the statement that preaching the gospel and not living it is dangerous, and living the gospel and not preaching it is equally as dangerous. This can bring a skewed understanding of the gospel in th eyes of all people. This is necessary to understand cause we live in post-Christian culture that sees churches but has no idea what church really is about. The term "un-churched" should give us a clue as to this. This can make issues on a couple different fronts; first, in the eyes of non-believers see God as one sided or as I like to say skewed, second people are living one side of the gospel therefore seeing one side of the gospel and third this makes the job of the pastor and teacher harder when it comes to dealing with the church in light of this.
Since I've set the stage, some of you might disagree with what I say but I say all this cause of how the modern church is becoming one sided all the while thinking its standing on the solid rock of Christ (see Matthew 7:24-27). I want to start our with a strong statement. The gospel is not the love of God, to which most would say a resounding 'your wrong, what about John 3:16 or Romans 5:8, both talk about the love of God and Jesus death on the cross'. I would not disagree, but both of those scriptures talk about how God's love is shown in the cross (a proper exegesis shows this). Any modern translation (depending which one you read) of John 3:16 says "for God so loved the world, he sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, shall not perish but have everlasting life", but in modern English and people having skewed views of the gospel we are tought the understanding that the gospel is mostly God's love and everything else is second, but a translation literal means of John 3:16 means "its in this manner that God showed His love to the world".
The passage in Romans is the same way in that the cross is a showing of Gods love and not all that the cross is about. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to diminish the love of God but in this I want to show this not only as biblical, but also to raise an awareness to the greatness of God' love as it pertains to the gospel. We also see in 1 John that it says "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him" (4:9; Italics mine). All these are a showing that God's love not the centrality of the gospel, but it defiantly is part of the gospel and I would say an important part just as all aspects are equally important. Let me say that at certain points an individual may talk about God's love and not talk about God's judgment towards mankind when sharing the gospel. It all depends on the situation, but one cannot be without the other for the gospel to be the gospel.
In the book of Romans it says " in it (the gospel) is the righteousness of God revealed from faith the faith" (1:17) and that "the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law....the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" (3:21-22). both these texts are what Paul implied as central to the gospel and what it is all about. We also see in 1 Peter that is says "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (3:18; "righteous" also can be translated "just"). This is very important if we are to as God's people share the only one who can save us from God's wrath towards sin and bring us into the gracious love of God; the Lord Jesus Christ! I say this to get a starting point to see the gospel as more then one sided so the world may come to know the God of creation and redemption!
Further on in Romans it says we are "justified by faith" and that we are "justified by his blood" (5:1,9). This reveals the whole council of God within the gospel and as we look to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ we should be awestruck by the love of God as we should be awestruck that God in Christ brings us to Himself (see 2 Cor. 5:15-21). Even Titus says we are to compelled by the grace of God to live in line with that very grace (3:11-14). The gospel is full circle when it comes to the God. All aspect of the gospel are to never been run over by one another but each one it to lift the other higher and higher so that our Lord Jesus is forever praised.
Just imagine that you have a friend that is a non-believer and you want to share the gospel with them but all you talk about God's love or wrath. Your intention is to primarily talk about one over the other, is that good of bad? Are you as God's servant doing justice to the God who redeemed you. This God of love, righteousness, wrath, grace; the one who is sovereign, transendent, omniscient, omnipresent and so on! Are we doing justice to who God is and what He has done? Granted as I said you may not share the whole gospel in one shot and even if you do you may miss something or just plane forget, I mean we are human and we do make mistakes. But as I read the scriptures I am forced to ask myself one question. Am I making it my goal to make known the gospel or share this gospel? Not just part of it but the WHOLE gospel?
With that said, not only does this start with a thorough study of the scriptures but also a continual encounter with the risen Christ. As we follow the Spirit's leading, stand under solid leadership and pray without ceasing I truly believe that we will come to fully walk as Jesus walked and love as Jesus loved. This all is a process and something to work towards this.
Galatians 2:20 says "It is no longer I who love, but Christ lives in me and the life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me". This is to be a continual action that we don't give up on as we walk daily with Christ! I pray and hope we do this collectively as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ in this world that needs him O so bad!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
the contextual church (part 2)
The first part of this blog I talked about the need to be looking to our context to reach people with the gospel but holding to some basic principles of the early church taught in Acts 2:42 saying, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers". I will always stand and say these are to be the foundation of any church/group of believers wanting to reach the culture around them for the gospel. This is always and forever a foundational necessity if the body of Christ is to be strong and remain faithful to her calling in this lost and dying world.
As we go about our days in this world not only in building the kingdom, we are to be faithful and true to the church and who she is. I see the bible teaching another important key to remaining strong and faithful to our calling. In first Corinthians the apostle Paul says,
"And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech of wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man but in the power of God" (2:1-5)
This passage is pivotal in the furthering of the kingdom of God, but also without this gospel as central it can and will hinder healthy growth. Paul talks about this and how our faith needs to rest in God not in the wisdom of man. This is not only the personal responsibility of all who follow Jesus as Lord, but is to be looked at contextually. Maybe your thinking, duh! But to often one of two things happens, either people preach, preach and preach the gospel and don't think about how there coming across with their actions or they are so cautious with their actions they don't want to seem judgmental or pushy so they barely ever preach the gospel if at all. Both are of great danger to the kingdom and to how God is viewed. (I'll talk about how God is viewed next time).
What Paul was dealing with was a culture that held wisdom so high that a false teaching called Gnosticism was born into the Christian church and the apostle John ended up writing 1 John about, as did Paul talk about it in the letter to the Colossians. Anyways back to Corinthians, Paul was writing to a culture that held wisdom as utmost importance for man to attain, but Paul then wrote the words I quoted above about preaching Jesus and only Jesus crucified, nothing more or less. From my experience with believers the truth is that people don't want to "judge" the people they are called to love. This I totally agree with but not to the point of never talking to people about the gospel and God's wrath being poured out on our sins in the judgment or on Jesus as a personal substitute for us when he died on the cross.
When we preach the gospel of hope we are to do so with "gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15) and do as those that are full of grace cause were are saved by grace not a position of our works are not filthy rags, but with love for those we preach to. Now when i say preach I do mean telling people about Jesus, but is always and forever inclusive of good deeds and a heart of love for those you talk to, but I stand on telling people cause my deeds are not good enough in God's sight so why should I allow them to point to Jesus instead of Jesus deeds He is the one I should tell people about, not me or my works!
This again must be done with gentleness and respect and with living in a culture that wants to know you before they trust what you say, so we should love and then preach so people will listen but never love without preaching! This is an issue that needs to be dealt with in all cultures where the Christian church is and the kingdom is being built, but the issue that is equal is that of how to tell people about the Christ with a cultural understanding about the people, but as I said in my last blog we should never study man so far as to have a false or skewed understanding about the sinful nature and we should never put the cultural understanding first and then the sinful nature.
Paul's words ring loud about preaching Jesus only in any culture. When Paul talks about Jesus Christ and Him crucified he points directly to the sinful nature and the work of redemption that god offers to his elect. No matter where you live or what time period you live in, man will always be sinful by nature. Jesus is the only savior acceptable to God for the sins of man, the only true picture and gift of God's love, and the only way to appease His wrath toward man and that is all we should ever preach. This is necessary as Paul says for peoples faith the rest in the Holy Spirit and not in man!
God's love and grace to all who read this, may you continue to be blessed as you serve the one true God; Father, Son and Spirit!
As we go about our days in this world not only in building the kingdom, we are to be faithful and true to the church and who she is. I see the bible teaching another important key to remaining strong and faithful to our calling. In first Corinthians the apostle Paul says,
"And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech of wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man but in the power of God" (2:1-5)
This passage is pivotal in the furthering of the kingdom of God, but also without this gospel as central it can and will hinder healthy growth. Paul talks about this and how our faith needs to rest in God not in the wisdom of man. This is not only the personal responsibility of all who follow Jesus as Lord, but is to be looked at contextually. Maybe your thinking, duh! But to often one of two things happens, either people preach, preach and preach the gospel and don't think about how there coming across with their actions or they are so cautious with their actions they don't want to seem judgmental or pushy so they barely ever preach the gospel if at all. Both are of great danger to the kingdom and to how God is viewed. (I'll talk about how God is viewed next time).
What Paul was dealing with was a culture that held wisdom so high that a false teaching called Gnosticism was born into the Christian church and the apostle John ended up writing 1 John about, as did Paul talk about it in the letter to the Colossians. Anyways back to Corinthians, Paul was writing to a culture that held wisdom as utmost importance for man to attain, but Paul then wrote the words I quoted above about preaching Jesus and only Jesus crucified, nothing more or less. From my experience with believers the truth is that people don't want to "judge" the people they are called to love. This I totally agree with but not to the point of never talking to people about the gospel and God's wrath being poured out on our sins in the judgment or on Jesus as a personal substitute for us when he died on the cross.
When we preach the gospel of hope we are to do so with "gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15) and do as those that are full of grace cause were are saved by grace not a position of our works are not filthy rags, but with love for those we preach to. Now when i say preach I do mean telling people about Jesus, but is always and forever inclusive of good deeds and a heart of love for those you talk to, but I stand on telling people cause my deeds are not good enough in God's sight so why should I allow them to point to Jesus instead of Jesus deeds He is the one I should tell people about, not me or my works!
This again must be done with gentleness and respect and with living in a culture that wants to know you before they trust what you say, so we should love and then preach so people will listen but never love without preaching! This is an issue that needs to be dealt with in all cultures where the Christian church is and the kingdom is being built, but the issue that is equal is that of how to tell people about the Christ with a cultural understanding about the people, but as I said in my last blog we should never study man so far as to have a false or skewed understanding about the sinful nature and we should never put the cultural understanding first and then the sinful nature.
Paul's words ring loud about preaching Jesus only in any culture. When Paul talks about Jesus Christ and Him crucified he points directly to the sinful nature and the work of redemption that god offers to his elect. No matter where you live or what time period you live in, man will always be sinful by nature. Jesus is the only savior acceptable to God for the sins of man, the only true picture and gift of God's love, and the only way to appease His wrath toward man and that is all we should ever preach. This is necessary as Paul says for peoples faith the rest in the Holy Spirit and not in man!
God's love and grace to all who read this, may you continue to be blessed as you serve the one true God; Father, Son and Spirit!
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